SILVER CREEK – A former Silver Creek village trustee will soon return to serve in a new capacity.

The village board on Monday allowed Anthony Pearl to attend Magistrates School in Albany the second week of December at a cost not to exceed $800. The training is in anticipation of Pearl sitting behind the bench in place of acting village Judge Anthony Pulci come January.

Village Justice Richard Saletta thanked the board members for allowing Pearl to eventually take over for Pulci.

“I think you’re going to be satisfied with Tony Pearl,” Saletta told the board. “He’s got a lot of time in with the courts in Buffalo, he’s quite knowledgeable and that’s the person that came into my head when Tony Pulci said, ‘I’m resigning. Who am I going to get?’ And I thought about this guy here because of his experience. It came from me, that’s the way it was and I want to thank you all for backing me up on this.”

Pearl retired from a 30-year career in the judicial system as a court assistant. He spent 13 of those years in the family court and 17 years in criminal court. He spent three years in the Buffalo treatment courts as the drug court clerk and six as the housing violations clerk.

Before the board unanimously approved sending Pearl to Magistrates School, Mayor Nick Piccolo requested an executive session to discuss “this individual matter because of a comment I heard (Monday).” The executive session lasted about 10 minutes.

Trustee Vince Tampio asked Saletta if Pulci is off the payroll, to which Saletta informed him he will not be until Jan. 1 since Pearl cannot take over as associate judge until after the class in December. The board must formally appoint Pearl around that time, Saletta noted.

Pearl was appointed to the village board in April 2013 and served in that capacity through the end of 2014.

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